TRL to evaluate low emission buses

Transport research specialist TRL has been appointed by the Department for Transport to evaluate the performance and impacts of low emission buses at 13 locations across the UK.

TRL will carry out data collection and analysis of bus and infrastructure performance, cost savings and environmental impacts to create insight reports for the DfT and the bus industry.

TRL will evaluate the performance of electric, hybrid, gas and hydrogen fuel cell buses

Buses evaluated will include gas, full-electric, hybrid-electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

The trials are already underway and TRL will be looking to report back the interim projects findings in just over 12-months’ time, it has revealed.

This will allow government and bus operators to make informed decisions about how to best develop their low emission bus fleets and infrastructure, the organisation has said.

Denis Naberezhnykh, head of Ultra Low Emission Vehicles and Energy at TRL, said: “There is a lot of emphasis on reducing emissions in the UK and improving air quality within our communities, this is why it is vital the various low emission bus solutions being put in place are evaluated, to inform smart investments and policy decisions in the future.

“By implementing a robust process for collecting accurate and reliable data from these projects over an extended duration, a comprehensive understanding of their performance and impacts will be obtained and made available to the DfT, bus operators and the broader bus industry.”

TRL is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Transport Research Foundation (TRF), a non-profit distributing company.